by Matthew Cornwall, contributor
The Office of Career and Alumni Success (CAS) recently gave a presentation in the DMC called “Masterpiece Resumes for Artists and Designers”. It was a part of a bigger event known as the Career Extravaganza, a quarterly happening where the advisors share knowledge and experience with students about different skills and factors necessary to secure an internship or job.
Chrissy Terry, Senior Career Advisor, provided useful information teaching key resume components, the “do’s and don’ts”, creating a reference page, perfecting a cover letter, and branding one’s self. Terry says, “Resumes are your main marketing material. They’re the first step in getting an interview.”
According to Terry, students make many embarrassing mistakes when constructing a resume. “There’s so many types of mistakes from grammatical errors to formatting. The students aren’t really expressing themselves that well on paper.” Apparently, some even include pictures, their age, and birthday, which doesn’t come off as professional at all. A helpful tip she gave to the students was not to use the word “extracurricular” when referring to collegiate activities. Unfortunately, students happen to misspell that word too.
Students participated in interactive group exercises and lively discussion about misconceptions of resumes. Kimberly MacNeil, second year animation student, learned some helpful tips. “Potential employers may only spend 10-20 seconds looking through your resume before making a decision. You have to make a great impression to land an interview!”
Resumes need to be updated no matter where you are in your career. Terry comments, “You’ll always be working on your resume. Even if getting it done early is important, it’s never too late to write one “. Attending the presentation inspired student like MacNeil to get more active about adjusting their resumes.
MacNeil shared, “I plan to do a lot of tweaking. It’s hard to work on anything career-related right now with midterms and projects going on, but I’m planning a big revamp. I’d also like to get the final draft spot-checked.”
Resume Spot-Check will be available in the Hub every Monday and Thursday from 1 – 2 p.m. Staff will be there to personally review student’s resumes and answer any career questions.
Terry gives this advice on resume building to those who didn’t get to attend. “We have resume examples and resources in our office that you can come view. Also, we will be offering another workshop on resume writing on Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. ”
Be sure not to miss out on the upcoming event, Career Blitz. It will feature the same presentation and FYE students can get their passports stamped for attending.
For more information about events like these, email careersatl@scad.edu